Did 'Bachelor' Brad Womack leave Bettina Bell to be on the show again?

TV Squad
is reporting (
via Life & Style) that
"Bachelor"Brad Womack ditched his girlfriend last year in order to start filming his second "Bachelor" season. And that that girlfriend is none other than
Bettina Bell, the willowy blonde who finished 3rd on his first season of the dating show.

"He was pursuing me like crazy, and then out of nowhere he went MIA," Bettina tells Life & Style. Bell says they began dating in October 2009, then he broke it off last summer when he was approached to be on "The Bachelor" again.

The magazine also says that a source close to Womack claims he did date between "Bachelor" experience one and experience two, but he didn't "find anyone who captured his heart," which is why he decided to do it again.

Bell says that Brad talked about his first "Bachelor" experience in a very negative light, but does note, "The show has 18 million viewers. It can open a lot of doors."

You can read all the sordid details in the latest issue of Life & Style, which hits newsstands Wednesday (Jan. 26).

We are fairly skeptical about all this, mostly because it seems like this is something the show would've used -- Brad reconnects with another girl he didn't pick, but that doesn't work out either and it's just another example of how the girls in that season weren't right him and now he's changed and ready for new women, or something.

On the other hand, if Bettina didn't want to spin it that way and is hurt and angry, perhaps this is the annual scandal that the show doesn't want out there. We have reached out to ABC for comment and will let you know if you hear anything.

Interestingly, Reality Steve (known "Bachelor" franchise insider) had this to say
on his blog Tuesday (Jan. 25): "
And also, remember how back when I gave the spoilers to this season I told you the drama wasn't going to be happening on the show, but will be taking place in the tabloids? Watch out. The s***'s about to hit the fan."